In a cellular communications system such as, for example, a CDMA system, there is a need and a desire to frequently adjust the output power used by the User Equipments, UEs, in a cell, in order to achieve a balance between the quality of the signals and the interference in the cell. This frequent power control of the UEs in a cell is usually referred to as the inner loop power control. The power control of the UEs in a cell is also interchangeably referred to as the “uplink power control” or even “reverse link power control”.
The inner loop power control is performed by the controlling node of the cell, sometimes generically referred to as the “base station” of the cell, which transmits power control commands to the UEs in the cell in order to adjust the output power level of the UEs in the cell so that an estimated quality measure at the base station meets a quality target.
A NodeB in a CDMA system receives configuration commands for the power control from a Radio Network Controller, an RNC, in the system.